American billiards is also a hobby!

Often, American billiards is abbreviated simply as an American. But any person, more or less versed in billiards, will tell you that this name is absolutely wrong. American (free pyramid) - this is one of the varieties of Russian billiards. And American billiards is otherwise called american pool or simply pool.

It is believed that American billiards are easier than Russian billiards, snooker and other types of game of billiards, that's why beginners usually start with a pool. In principle, this statement is true: if you decide to learn to play billiards from scratch, it's best to try the pool. The fact is that the table for the American pool is less than, for example, for the Russian, and the pockets are wider, so it becomes easier to hammer the ball.

You will need to play American billiards billiard table, cue and a set of balls. Of course, this is not cheap, andplace a pool table in the apartment is usually nowhere, so most fans of billiards prefer to play in billiard clubs. There are tables and balls, and even a cue can be chosen. Although many players prefer to go broke on their own cue: a convenient checked cue is usually much better played.

Set of balls for the pool consists of 15 multi-colored aiming balls and one white cue ball. The balls are numbered and each of them has its own color. Balls 1-8 have a solid color in the following colors:

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  1 - yellow
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  2 - blue
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  3 - red
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  4 - purple (purple)
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  5 - orange
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  6 - green
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  7 - maroon
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  8 - black

Balls 9-15 - white with a wide color band along the "equator"ball, the order of colors is the same as for balls 1-7. Why do we need such a color separation? The fact is that in many games in American billiards each player plays one kind of balls.

American billiards is divided into several types, but the most famous and common among amateurs is, perhaps, pool-8 (or "eight"). The goal of this game is to score all the balls of one of the groups (1-7 or 9-15) into the pockets, and in the end to score the ball at the number 8 in the ordered pocket. The winner is the one who will do it first.

At the beginning of the game, the balls are exposed by a pyramid (the eight in the center). One of the players performs robbery of the pyramid. If at a robbery he scores any ball in the pocket,except for the cue ball and the eight, he continues the game with the kind of balls to which the fallen ball belonged (whole or striped). If the player does not score, his opponent enters the game.

When players determine what kind of balls each of them plays, the actual battle for victory begins. Each player must first score all their balls (striped or whole), and after that to score eight in any ordered pocket. In this case, you can not get into the balls of the opponent - at first the cue ball should touch the player's own ball.

Before the kick, the player must order a ball and pocket in which he is going to beat. Sometimes for this rule an exception is made - if the choice of the ball and the pockets is obvious. If the player sees that the resultant strike can not be made, he recoupedi.e. produces any blow that does not lead him to foul. In this case, before the blow, he must warn the opponent that he is going to do the wagering.

If the player does not score a ball or scores it inan unspecified pocket, the game is continued by his opponent. If a player scores a figure eight before he scores all his balls, or slots it into an unspecified pocket, he loses.

Of course, in the American pool there are also other rules, nuances and tricks of the game. As in chess, in billiards, it is not so much the technique that is as important as the logic, strategy and tactics of the game - it's not for nothing that billiards are called "Chess in motion".

American billiards is a great hobby. It is fairly easy to learn to please beginners, but the American billiards hides enough tricks and subtleties to not seem boring to more "advanced" players.